Friday, July 25, 2008

Possible Hate Crime in Colorado

Early this week Angie Zapato, a transgender woman living in Greeley, Colorado, was found dead. Authorities say she was fatally beaten in her apartment and that her car is still missing.

News coverage has varied on the use of Angie's name and gender pronoun she, as a transgender person, identified with. According to an ABC News article, some investigators feel "her lifestyle"(sic) may be a factor or motive in her death.

Angie (pictured, left - photo courtesy Colorado Anti-Violence Project) was 18 years old. Colorado does, thankfully, include both sexual orientation and gender identity in its state hate crime laws. If it is found that her being transgender was a motive in her killing, this could help in the prosecution of her attacker.

Angie's family, who were supportive of her, spoke in a public statement asking for the public's help with finding information.

"We want the whole community involved to find this person who hurt my sister and to let everyone be aware that all she wanted was to be beautiful," Angie's sister, Monica, said in the statement. "We want this violence to end. Transgender people deserve to be treated with respect."